Philly Pretzel Factory expands into Virginia

The Philly Pretzel Factory, which sells soft, Philadelphia-style pretzels, is expanding into Virginia. President Marty Ferrill said the company already has opened outlets in Walmart stores in Newport News and Mechanicsville in Hanover County , and it has plans for nine additional locations across the state.

“It seems like a natural progression for us. We have a bunch of stores in the Philadelphia and New Jersey area. The next markets going south for us are Maryland and Virginia,” Ferrill said.

In Virginia, Ferrill says the company is going with a smaller, nontraditional store that will be located inside of Walmarts. “The locations are all going to be placed inside Walmarts,” he said.

The company’s larger stores run about 1,200 square feet. The smaller Walmart models will be about 300 square feet. Each store will employ about seven to 10 part-time and full-time workers, Ferrill said, for a total of about 75 to 100 employees for the 11 stores.

The pretzels will sell for $1.27 each, and there’s more than one version. Ferrill says customers can opt for bite-size nuggets, cinnamon twists and bacon pretzel hot dogs. “The pretzel is always the focus,” he said.

The company plans new locations in Fairfax, Hampton, Glen Allen, Chesterfield County, Richmond, Colonial Heights, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Founded in 1998, Philly Pretzel Factory has more than 100 franchised locations, primarily in the Northeast.